Patient Safety & Quality AssuranceQuestion 57 of 100
A pediatric order is written for 15 mg/kg per dose for a child who weighs 18 kg. The label produced by the system reads "2,700 mg per dose." What should the technician conclude?
a.The label is correct, because 18 kg multiplied by 15 mg/kg equals 2,700 mg
b.The label is correct but the dose should be rounded up to 2,750 mg for easier measuring
c.The dose must be recalculated using the child's weight in pounds
d.The label shows a ten-fold overdose; the correct dose is 270 mg per dose
Explanation
18 kg x 15 mg/kg = 270 mg per dose, so 2,700 mg is exactly ten times the intended amount and the label must be stopped and given to the pharmacist. Accepting 2,700 mg repeats the decimal error, and rounding it to 2,750 mg only makes an overdose easier to measure. Weight-based pediatric doses are calculated in kg, so converting to pounds would inflate the dose further.
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